Shizuoka Marathon Blog, VIII: Running in the Rain, Running in the Cold.

October is my jam.

October is always a busy month for me. I don't know why. Everything comes to a culmination. Everything comes to a head. It's always kind of like a new beginning and a very active and productive month. My son's birthday is in October. Halloween is in October. The air becomes cool and crisp. The trees change their colors from green to all kinds of shades of oranges, reds, purples, and yellows. I love the fall. It's a little bittersweet, for sure, but this makes it all the more special in some sense that is quite profound. I am not sure I can explain it, but am quite certain that most of you understand it.

Running in the rain. Running in the cold.

I went out for a five-mile run the other night. To my dismay it started raining a bit when I stepped outside to stretch. Fuck, I thought. I don't want to run in this shit. I thought about just taking the night off. I didn't want to, but it was raining, so what could I do? After chewing it over a bit more in my mind, I decided it wasn't raining that hard, and put my phone and headphones in the house (no sense in ruining my phone running without a waterproof case) and headed out anyway. It wasn't heavy rain, after all.

Not long after setting out, and about a half mile down the path, the rain abated and I was left with a stark bright and beautiful, cold October moon above me intermittently obscured by glowing clouds, but shining bright. Not so bad. Not bad at all, really. Quite enjoyable. Lately I've been finding my pace and a good stride/breathing technique that works for me, too, so the whole run started to find it's own natural rhythm.

Harder rain, and the return journey.

Just after four miles, and almost back home, the rain started again. This time harder. Colder. Windier. Oh boy, I thought. This is what I am going to have to deal with more and more, training for this marathon over the winter. Part of me felt like whining a bit inside, the other part knew that...well...rain happens. Just keep moving through it. And I did. And the feeling of accomplishment when I hit that five-mile mark was something that other, more fair weather runs just cannot provide. When I slid open the glass door in back and stepped into the house, soaking wet, my wife let me know there was a hot bath waiting for me. WIN!!!

Viva La MARATHON! Viva la viva! Viva October!